20 July 2011

An Idea for a University in London

This looks interesting: The Benedictus Trust brings us 'A Proposal for Liberal Arts Education' based on the principles of Blessed John Henry Newman's Idea of a University.

From their website: "We seek to establish in this country a course of learning at foundation and undergraduate level, a return to true liberal education with the study of the traditional liberal arts, encompassing what are usually known as the humanities and mathematics, to be studied alongside philosophy and theology, using as texts the greatest works of the European tradition. This study will be fully integrated with courses on the history, arts, culture and languages of Europe."

... a University, taken in its bare idea ... has this object and this mission; it contemplates neither moral impression nor mechanical production; it professes to exercise the mind neither in art nor in duty; its function is intellectual culture; ... it educates the intellect to reason well in all matters, to reach out towards truth, and to grasp it. (The Idea of a University, Discourse VI, I)